| Health Geography |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT HEALTH GEOGRAPHY | |
| human geography | |
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| geography | |
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Health geography is the application of geographical information, perspectives, and methods to the study of Health , Disease , and Health Care . It was initially referred to as '''medical geography''' but the term has since been broadened to cover the full spectrum of health science. AREAS OF STUDY Health geography can provide a spatial understanding of a population's health, the distribution of disease in an area, and the environment's effect on health and disease. It deals also with accessibility to health care and spatial distribution of health care providers. The study is considered a subdiscipline of Human Geography , however, it requires an understanding of other fields such as Epidemiology , Climatology . HISTORY OF HEALTH GEOGRAPHY A classic piece of research in health (or medical) geography was done in 1854 as cholera gripped London. Death tolls rang around the clock from church towers and the people feared that they were being infected by vapors coming from the ground. A physician John Snow thought that, if he could locate the source of the disease, it could be contained. He drew maps showing the homes of people who had died of cholera and the locations of water pumps. He found that one pump, the public pump on Broad Street, was central to most of the victims. He figured that infected water from the pump was the culprit. He instructed the authorities to remove the handle to the pump, making it unusable. After that the number of new cholera cases decreased. REFERENCES |
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